Kind of Like "High Fidelity," But Without Jack Black

So to what productive uses did I put my time tonight? Did I finish Heart of Darkness? Read for my exams? Continue the PhD program search? Wash the dishes?

No. I yanked every studio release off my cd rack and put them in order of my favorites. So not a complete waste of my time.

I'm presenting the list of all 99 here for you because, well, heck, why not? Perhaps one day I will be tempted to write a proper blog on the top ten or something. But until then, enjoy the list in an of itself.

Note: To avoid what could amount to months, if not years, worth of agonizing over which albums I like better, I made snap judgments. Plus, I was a bit tipsy. Furthermore, I reserve the right to change the order once I have given it more thought and/or sobered up.

98. Bob Dylan--Christmas in the Heart

97. ""--Good as I Been to You

96. Jakob Dylan--Seeing Things

95. Billy Bragg & Wilco--Mermaid Avenue Vol. II

94. Bob Dylan--Together Through Life

93. Pearl Jam--Ten

92. Train--Drops of Jupiter

91. Norah Jones--Come Away with Me

90. Jet--Get Born

89. The Wallflowers--Red Letter Days

88. Flogging Molly--Drunken Lullabies

87. U2--No Line on the Horizon

86. The Wallflowers--The Wallflowers

85. Billy Bragg--The Internationale

84. Tie: U2--Boy and War

83. The Traveling Wilburys--The Traveling Wilburys

82. The Killers--Hot Fuss

81. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Are a Drag

80. Bob Dylan--"Love and Theft"

79. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Love Their Country

78. Faculty Lounge--Faculty Lounge

77. Bob Dylan--Oh Mercy

76. ""--World Gone Wrong

75. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin

74. The Raconteurs--Broken Boy Soldiers

73. Joni Mitchell--Court and Spark

72. Bob Dylan--Bob Dylan

71. U2--The Joshua Tree

70. Bob Dylan--Planet Waves

69. Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young--Deja Vu

68. Crosby, Stills and Nash--Crosby, Stills and Nash

67. Bob Dylan--Nashville Skyline

66. Joni Mitchell--Ladies of the Canyon

65. Bruce Springsteen--Magic

64. Green Day--21st Century Breakdown

63. Bob Dylan--Street Legal

62. The Beatles--Magical Mystery Tour

61. The Rolling Stones--Beggars Banquet

60. Bob Dylan--Time Out of Mind

59. Me First and the Gimme Gimmes--Blow in the Wind

58. Green Day--Dookie

57. The Beatles--Beatles for Sale

56. The Wallflowers--Bringing Down the Horse

55. Simon and Garfunkel--Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme

54. Bob Dylan--The Times They Are A-Changin'

53. Neil Young--Harvest

52. Bob Dylan--Another Side of Bob Dylan

51. Van Morrison--Moondance

50. Alanis Morissette--Jagged Little Pill

49. Foxboro Hot Tubs--Stop Drop and Roll!!!

48. Bob Dylan--Modern Times

47. David Bowie--Aladdin Sane

46. Nirvana--Nevermind

45. Carole King--Tapestry

44. Bruce Springsteen--Born to Run

43. The Beatles--Let It Be

42. ""--Please Please Me

41. Bob Dylan--Desire

40. U2--All That You Can't Leave Behind

39. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin II

38. The Doors--The Doors

37. The Wallflowers--Rebel, Sweetheart

36. Simon and Garfunkel--Bookends

35. The Beatles--With the Beatles

34. Bob Dylan--John Wesley Harding

33. David Bowie--The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

32. The Sex Pistols--Never Mind the Bollocks Here's the Sex Pistols

31. The Wallflowers--(Breach)

30. Paul McCartney and Wings--Band on the Run

29. Led Zeppelin--Led Zeppelin IV (a.k.a. ZOSO)

28. The Beatles--Help!

27. Bob Dylan--The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan

26. U2--How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb

25. George Harrison--All Things Must Pass

24. The Rolling Stones--Exile on Main Street

23. ""--Sticky Fingers

22. Bruce Springsteen--We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions

21. The Velvet Underground and Nico--The Velvet Underground and Nico

20. The Who--Who's Next

19. The Rolling Stones--Some Girls

18. The Beatles--A Hard Day's Night

17. Simon and Garfunkel--Bridge Over Troubled Water

16. Fleetwood Mac--Rumors

15. Bob Dylan--Blood on the Tracks

14. The Rolling Stones--Let It Bleed

13. Green Day--American Idiot

12. The Beatles--Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

11. ""--The Beatles (a.k.a. The White Album)

10. The Who--Tommy

9. David Bowie--Hunky Dory

8. U2--Achtung Baby

7. Bob Dylan--Bringing It All Back Home

6. The Beatles--Rubber Soul

5. Bob Dylan--Highway 61 Revisited

4. The Beatles--Abbey Road

3. The Clash--London Calling

2. Bob Dylan--Blonde on Blonde

1. The Beatles--Revolver

See one of your own favorites on the list? Appalled that I don't own White Light/White Heat? Outraged that Led Zeppelin only comes in at #75? Feel free to comment.

British Actor of the Month--Cracked* Edition

What's hotter, a rock star or a British actor? Answer: a rock star who is also a British actor.

Since I'm doing papers this semester on glam rock and 80s fantasy films, this month's featured fella is none other than

David Bowie

OK, you probably know Bowie as the aging rocker who used to wear women's clothes and pretend to be an alien now married to a supermodel, but unless you've been floating around in space for the past 40 years,** you're probably at least somewhat aware of his acting career. While many of the other guys on this list learned acting at RADA or Cambridge, Bowie had mime training. (No, seriously. Stop laughing.) Though Bowie's tours from his Ziggy Stardust days could be pretty theatrical, he first gained attention as an actor when he played the lead in Nicholas Roeg's The Man Who Fell to Earth, an arty sci-fi critique of American life and imperialism. Since then, Bowie has had roles as diverse as his music, playing the title character in The Elephant Man on stage, the Goblin King in nerdy fan-girl favorite Labyrinth, and most recently as Nikola Tesla in The Prestige.

Of course, it's always fun to see him make cameo appearances as himself, so enjoy this clip from Extras:

*See Aladdin Sane.

**Haha. Get it?